How Experts Use Their Voices During 16 Days of Activism on Gender-Based Violence

The 16 Days of Activism period brings an annual spike in media interest around gendered violence. Journalists look for experts who can help explain the violence and offer practical ways forward. For our QW+ community of researchers, economists, psychologists, lawyers and activists, this is our moment to be the steady, clarifying voice that guides the public through the very predictable storm. But can the messages we amplify change anything? Let’s take a look.

Preparing your messages in a trauma-filled world

We live in a world where everyone has been affected by violence. 

For all participants, conversations around the 16 Days of Activism are emotionally charged. Whether consciously or unconsciously, both experts and journalists react at a gut level when they participate in these conversations. Often without knowing it, we search for ways of expressing ourselves that ease this discomfort. We soften our language, and find euphemisms and  acronyms that obscure the horror of our topics. This helps us, but there is a narrative price to pay.

When the words we use obscure horror rather than platforming it, the debates we engage in also degrade. Unwittingly, the focus falls on those who have suffered, rather than those who have inflicted violence. There is a glossing over the systems that have failed.

When the media calls, this is how we, as a collective, can use their requests to not just respond, but to reframe:

1. Let’s name the systems, not just the symptoms

It’s easy for media coverage to get stuck vicariously replaying a single case. Our role is to pivot the conversation to the underlying architecture that does not change, from old-boys-club privilege, to systemic financial exclusions,or how both policing and the judiciary fail. 

2. Let’s champion precision in language

The language used in gender-based violence reporting often hides the truth. A “domestic dispute” hides patterns of coercive control. A “tragic incident” hides anything from incest to femicide.

QW+ asks of its experts that we name the violence with as much clarity as the situation allows for. We recommend: curiosity – to understand the gut-emotions triggered when we work with, and talk about violence; compassion – for our selves, and our audiences, in confronting the violence; in order to reach the level of clarity the situation can bear. 

3. Let’s anchor the conversation in solutions and solidarity.

Outrage is expected during the 16 Days of Activism, but the public also needs direction. Come prepared with practical steps, which policies could make a difference, what community-led models show results, where accountability is missing,  how it can be strengthened. Use your voice to clarify, to challenge, and to point toward what change can look like. And if you need us, reach out: hello@quotethiswoman.org.za. We’ll do our best to help.